Re: [PyMOL] print quality pictures

Hi Vivek,
Your workflow sort of reminds me of http://xkcd.com/763/ :)
First of all, make sure that you find a way with a minimal number of
operations. Every time you do something, you may negatively influence
the image quality. Also make sure to always use PNG format for
intermediate stages, only writing a JPEG (if necessary) at the final
stage. Then, please realize that Powerpoint is not an image processing
tool. It's as good for that as Word is. You really need to use an
image processing program like the Gimp, Photoshop, Inkscape or
Coreldraw. The first of these are pixel based (bitmap) image
processing tools, which allow retaining the quality of the image,
whereas the latter two are vector based drawing programs, that are
specifically equipped for adding labels, arrows and such, while able
to import and export bitmap image files. Importing bitmap images in
these will retain the resolution and you can specify the output
resolution of an exported image, allowing you to accomplish what you
want. Alternatively, you can use the vector programs to make an image
mask with a transparent background that you can lay over the image
using the Gimp, Photoshop, or Imagemagicks convert.
Hope it helps,
Tsjerk
> Once I get a high quality picture from pymol, I want to put some labels,
> combine a few of them together, add some arrows and texts, etc. Any
> suggestions on what is a good way to do that so that I don't lose resolution
> ? I generally crop the pictures in gimp to get rid of the white space
> around, then insert them in a powerpoint and resize them to fit a few
> together on one slide, then add texts, labels, arrows, etc. Save the slide
> in as a jpg and then crop it again. But I believe that even though I starts
> with a high resolution pictures created by pymol, I end up with not so good
> picture due to the procedure I described above.
>
> --
> Thank you and Regards,
>
> Vivek
>
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>
--
Tsjerk A. Wassenaar, Ph.D.
post-doctoral researcher
Molecular Dynamics Group
Groningen Institute for Biomolecular Research and Biotechnology
University of Groningen
The Netherlands

Thread view

Hello,
Once I get a high quality picture from pymol, I want to put some labels,
combine a few of them together, add some arrows and texts, etc. Any
suggestions on what is a good way to do that so that I don't lose resolution
? I generally crop the pictures in gimp to get rid of the white space
around, then insert them in a powerpoint and resize them to fit a few
together on one slide, then add texts, labels, arrows, etc. Save the slide
in as a jpg and then crop it again. But I believe that even though I starts
with a high resolution pictures created by pymol, I end up with not so good
picture due to the procedure I described above.
--
Thank you and Regards,
Vivek

Dear Vivek,
On 15 July 2010 05:33, Vivek Ranjan <vranjan@...> wrote:
> Hello,
> Once I get a high quality picture from pymol, I want to put some labels,
> combine a few of them together, add some arrows and texts, etc. Any
> suggestions on what is a good way to do that so that I don't lose resolution
> ? I generally crop the pictures in gimp to get rid of the white space
> around, then insert them in a powerpoint and resize them to fit a few
> together on one slide, then add texts, labels, arrows, etc. Save the slide
> in as a jpg and then crop it again. But I believe that even though I starts
> with a high resolution pictures created by pymol, I end up with not so good
> picture due to the procedure I described above.
>
You could take a look at inkscape (www.inkscape.org). It will
certainly be able to do what you want, and you can export the result
into many different formats.
Best regards,
Folmer Fredslund
> --
> Thank you and Regards,
>
> Vivek
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> This SF.net email is sponsored by Sprint
> What will you do first with EVO, the first 4G phone?
> Visit sprint.com/first -- http://p.sf.net/sfu/sprint-com-first
> _______________________________________________
> PyMOL-users mailing list (PyMOL-users@...)
> Info Page: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/pymol-users
> Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/pymol-users@...
>

Hi Vivek,
Your workflow sort of reminds me of http://xkcd.com/763/ :)
First of all, make sure that you find a way with a minimal number of
operations. Every time you do something, you may negatively influence
the image quality. Also make sure to always use PNG format for
intermediate stages, only writing a JPEG (if necessary) at the final
stage. Then, please realize that Powerpoint is not an image processing
tool. It's as good for that as Word is. You really need to use an
image processing program like the Gimp, Photoshop, Inkscape or
Coreldraw. The first of these are pixel based (bitmap) image
processing tools, which allow retaining the quality of the image,
whereas the latter two are vector based drawing programs, that are
specifically equipped for adding labels, arrows and such, while able
to import and export bitmap image files. Importing bitmap images in
these will retain the resolution and you can specify the output
resolution of an exported image, allowing you to accomplish what you
want. Alternatively, you can use the vector programs to make an image
mask with a transparent background that you can lay over the image
using the Gimp, Photoshop, or Imagemagicks convert.
Hope it helps,
Tsjerk
> Once I get a high quality picture from pymol, I want to put some labels,
> combine a few of them together, add some arrows and texts, etc. Any
> suggestions on what is a good way to do that so that I don't lose resolution
> ? I generally crop the pictures in gimp to get rid of the white space
> around, then insert them in a powerpoint and resize them to fit a few
> together on one slide, then add texts, labels, arrows, etc. Save the slide
> in as a jpg and then crop it again. But I believe that even though I starts
> with a high resolution pictures created by pymol, I end up with not so good
> picture due to the procedure I described above.
>
> --
> Thank you and Regards,
>
> Vivek
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> This SF.net email is sponsored by Sprint
> What will you do first with EVO, the first 4G phone?
> Visit sprint.com/first -- http://p.sf.net/sfu/sprint-com-first
> _______________________________________________
> PyMOL-users mailing list (PyMOL-users@...)
> Info Page: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/pymol-users
> Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/pymol-users@...
>
--
Tsjerk A. Wassenaar, Ph.D.
post-doctoral researcher
Molecular Dynamics Group
Groningen Institute for Biomolecular Research and Biotechnology
University of Groningen
The Netherlands

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